It's no secret that rabbits love soft materials. All domesticated rabbits like blankets and pillows in the home. You'll likely be tempted to place similar items in your pet's hutch for added comfort. Blankets and towels are great additions to a rabbit's home.
The rabbit hutch should contain a watering device (bowl, bottle), feeding bowl, plentiful hay, bedding (if using, it can be hay or straw) and a litter box. The article above details what to add to your rabbit's cage.
Putting a towel in the bottom of your bunny's cage isn't a great idea. Your bunny might chew on it, ingesting the towel threads and fibers which could cause a blockage in your rabbit's digestive system. Towels also get dirty and are hard to keep clean. Straw mats make nice flooring with straw or hay on top.
As a general rule, clean your rabbit's hutch or cage thoroughly at least once a week. 1? However, your rabbit's cage might need deep cleaning more often, depending on the size of the cage and how well your rabbit is litter-trained. If you have more than one rabbit, it will need to be cleaned more often.
The bedding should be completely changed and the cage cleaned once every month or two (more frequently if the rabbit urinates outside the litter box). Some material other than the bedding material should be provided in a litter box.
Giving rabbits soft blankets are good especially since rabbits want to snuggle with the soft fabrics whenever it is cold. They love to play with and roll around these soft blankets especially during sleeping time. Fleece fabrics are soft and are safe to use for rabbits because they are warm, soft, and seamless.
If you don't spend enough time together, your rabbit won't want to leave you at bedtime. If you have other pets, the rabbit may have seen them sleeping on your bed. Take time to play with your rabbit, so they feel sufficiently attended to. Make their bed as comfortable as possible, too.
Most rabbits love to be cuddled and stroked when approached in the right way. Few like being held or carried as being so high up from the ground makes them feel insecure, however, many will happily sit on your lap or snuggle up next to you for a cuddle. Avoid disturbing your rabbit when it is sleeping.
Crepuscular RabbitsNocturnal predators, those that can see best in complete darkness struggle with too much light at dusk, while diurnal predators need just a little more daylight than dawn provides in order to hunt.
Your rabbit does not need a cage. However, an untrained rabbit probably should be kept in a home-base of some kind, like an exercise pen (x-pen), a large cage, or some other protected housing, while you're not home to supervise and at night when you sleep.
Yes! One of the safest toys that your active rabbit can have is an empty toilet paper roll. You can stuff the toilet paper roll with hay to make your bunny even happier. This will definitely keep your pet happy and busy for hours while eating and chewing on the cardboard tube.
Grass Mats/Beds: Some pet stores have them and we do, too! Grass mats are a popular item, because they are somewhat soft, edible, and many rabbits love them! Not just to sleep on, but to tear apart slowly in between naps. Bunny loved his grass mat until his single days were over.
Bedding for rabbits
- Newspaper. This is a good base to line the floor of the hutch or cage with.
- Softwood litters i.e. pine shavings or sawdust. Studies have shown this to cause liver disease in rabbits and other small animals.
- Megazorb (UK only)
- Paper pulp bedding.
- Wood pellets.
- Paper pellets.
- Shredded cardboard.
- Straw.
Straw is perfectly fine for bedding. In fact, straw is probably a sensible choice for bedding as it is usually cheaper than hay. If you use hay as bedding, you'll be wasting quite a great deal of it because bunnies won't eat much of their bedding.
Here are some suggested toys for rabbits:
- Straw or wicker baskets.
- Straw placemats and rugs or paper-plate holders.
- Paper-towel or toilet-paper rolls (You can stuff these with hay for extra fun.)
- Large brown paper grocery bags (These are a fun place for bunnies to hide.)
Start with the rabbit on a surface and then place a towel over the rabbit's back so that the towel comes up to his neck. Next, wrap the rabbit in the towel by tucking one edge under the rabbit and then turning the rabbit onto his side to wrap the towel around him.
How long do rabbits live for?
If you see that your rabbit is eating their bedding and not the hay, check to make sure that the hay is fresh and not molding. It's good to note that your rabbit will most likely nibble on their bedding even with fresh hay available in their litter box.
Safe bunny litters include Carefresh (without baking soda), Yesterday's News (uinscented), WoodyPet or Feline or Equine Pine compressed wood pellets, aspen shavings (no pine or cedar shavings!), newspaper, and plain old hay.
